


The Inn Is Bigger On The Inside

by krayana



Category: Warehouse 13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-24
Updated: 2010-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-14 00:45:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/143455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krayana/pseuds/krayana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took them long enough to move H.G. into Leena's, and Myka, for one, noticed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Inn Is Bigger On The Inside

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justhuman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justhuman/gifts).



> Thanks to Rachel for the beta again, rockstar that she is. All mistakes are mine. I started writing this, realized it didn't fit the optional details much, stopped, wrote something else, and then decided I liked this and finished it anyway. I know, I know, that's why they're called optional, but I agreed with them, I liked them! I just couldn't quite write them. This came out instead.

The room Helena finally moved into at Leena's was by far the smallest in the big house. Pete and Myka, as resident agents and first occupants, had taken the larger suites, but the house, as with most things Warehouse-related, proved more than adequate for their growing team.

Claudia's room was just down the hall from Pete's and overlooked the pond in the backyard. She'd rigged up some sort of receiver to the satellite dish so that her room, for about twelve hours until Pete demanded she link in the entire house, was the entertainment capital of the world. She made it possible for everyone to watch anything playing anywhere, including live feeds and CCTV from around the world via legitimate broadcasting providers and those less aware, like say, anyone with a cell phone. It was her space, decorated as she liked it, but she spent little time in there unless she was doing some serious coding or some serious sleeping. Knowing she had the room was enough for Claudia.

Pete had made his room the room they all would eventually, at the end of a long week, end up hanging out in. Once the TV was in place, he'd scrounged up a couch, rearranged some furniture, and proceeded to drag the girls in until they started wandering in on their own. Myka only bothered to roll her eyes once, the first time she found herself headed towards Pete's room just to hang out. After that, she just had to admire his subtle manipulations, though she'd never do so out loud. For Claudia, Pete's room was someplace she could relax without getting lonely. She'd spent entirely too much time alone alone to really crave too much private time. Pete, with his grins and jokes and bravado, felt much the same way, and he and Claudia logged a lot of hours doing nothing much but watching tv and working on paperwork without really talking.

Myka, though she'd never admit it, eventually-once she worked out what the feeling was, exactly-realized she felt relieved that Claudia was there to fill that gap. She knew Pete had hoped, hell, SHE'D almost hoped, that they could be that kind of partners. Those partners where everything lined up and everything was in sync, even their downtime. Only, Myka enjoyed her privacy. She liked reading in the bath with only candlelight and bubbles to set the mood to "relax." She found sanctuary in being surrounded by books and history and only the soft rustle of paper and the scratching of an ink pen to break the silence. Spending all of her free time trying to relax with Pete had been exhausting, and they'd both started to notice that yes, they enjoyed each others company and wouldn't trade partners for the world, but no, they were not a perfect fit for all situations. Myka found it a little disappointing, she missed that kind of connection with someone, and Pete had never known it which made her wish she'd been able to give it to him, but things had kept moving at the Warehouse, and things turned out better than expected. Pete and Claudia found one another to entertain, and Myka was allowed to join in whenever she wanted.

Which was exactly how Myka thought she wanted it. Until H. G. showed up. And then, and Myka, even though she'd thought about it a hundred times since then, still can't pinpoint what exactly happened, but they did--things began to shift. It was the only way to explain it. She did a little more paperwork at the Warehouse, where H. G. was staying, lingering a bit longer to talk with the other woman about whatever happened to be on either one of their minds. Some part of Myka's mind told her this was a lot like what Claudia and Pete did, and Myka was impressed she was making a new friend. It'd been hard since Colorado, to let people in, especially with the Warehouse and it's zillions of secrets that made even introducing herself almost a lie. "Agent Bering," of the Secret Service sounded exactly like "Agent Bering," of the IRS, and she hated that. So, someone new, her own age (relatively speaking), who enjoyed her company without having to be read into any government programs was a bit of unexpected pleasure. And now that she was sure Helena didn't have some horrid ulterior motive, it was just plain fun.

So when Artie mentioned Helena moving into Leena's, Myka smiled and agreed it was overdue. Mentally, she was formulating a plan to get Helena to accept the fourth room on the second floor, small though it was, instead of taking one of the larger ones on the ground level. It wasn't that Helena had to be close to her specifically, it was more of a team thing, Myka told herself. And if the last room on the floor happened to be next to Myka's, well then, who was she to rant about floorplans? Besides, that room had a really spectacular bathroom, one Myka had taken advantage of once or twice herself, just for a change of pace. Perhaps that could be the selling point for Helena.

Artie, with his particular brand of grace, had one afternoon looked across his office at Helena, reading quietly in the corner, and said "You really need to move your stuff out of here, Claudia's starting to migrate into my space."

Helena looked up and raised an eyebrow, sure more was to follow.

"There's room at Leena's, there's no point in you staying here all the time," he said the last without quite meeting her eyes, and Helena nodded sharply.

"I'll ride back with Myka this evening, then," she replied before returning to her book. She covered her surprise and unexpected pleasure by turning a page, even though Artie wasn't looking. She set her jaw against the urge to say any more on the subject, at least yet.

Artie turned back to his computer, even if he was staring at the same screen he'd been starting at for the last 15 minutes, and tried to ignore, again, still, Helena's quiet presence in the office. It worked for about ten minutes, until he decided that whatever map he'd been looking at couldn't possibly be worth staring at for half an hour, and he turned back to H.G., exasperated. "You don't want to go now?" he asked without preamble.

Helena looked up, not exactly shocked Artie couldn't let it go (and a little bit satisfied he couldn't), but still a little surprised he'd waited so little time. Maybe there was more humanity left in him than he showed when she was around.

She shrugged. "Myka won't be done for at least another hour, the house isn't going anywhere, is it?" In her mind, she was trying to figure out how to not sound pathetic when she asked for a ride from Myka, and wondering if there would actually be any Chinese takeout left by the time Pete got back with it, unlike last time, while they finished up the week's paperwork. She was busy thinking about how convinced Myka had been that she'd love Chinese and disappointed the other woman had been when Pete returned with mostly-empty cartons because of a traffic jam, so Helena didn't notice Artie opening up his Farnsworth until he began talking. What he was saying still didn't register until Myka came striding through the office door, huge smile on her face.

"It's Friday, we can do paperwork back at Leena's, c'mon!" was how Myka greeted her, but Helena could read the underlying excitement. Myka could put on a good poker face, but Helena'd had a much longer time to learn to read through people's lying, and she could tell that Myka was honestly excited about the move. It did, in fact, make Helena herself feel less like it was motivated out of guilt. She found herself smiling back up at Myka and her enthusiasm.

"You wouldn't mind giving me a lift, then?" she asked. Myka just laughed and wandered over to where Artie was staring at his computer again.

She paused, then looked over her shoulder at the unmoving Helena. "Do you need a hand packing?" she asked.

THAT was what threw Helena off, after all the strange things she'd been presented with so far. She looked away from Myka's open expression, over at Claudia's cluttered desk and forced herself to move.

She stood and walked over to Artie and Myka, laid a hand on Myka's arm and enjoyed the way the other woman unconsciously leaned into it a bit, and smiled at both of them. OK, mostly at Myka. "Don't be silly. I'll just go grab my bag," she tightened her grip a little on Myka's arm without meaning too, and took a step back. "I'll be just a minute," she nodded, then slipped out of the room before anyone could protest.

Backing out of the office, she let herself admire the jeans Myka was wearing, which led Helena into being distracted enough to walk into Claudia.

Claudia smirked. She'd been two steps away from the door when she saw H.G.'s head through the tiny window, and decided to let the other woman through first. Which meant she had front row seats to watch H.G. totally checking out Myka's ass. It was always fun to catch H.G. being a person when she tried so hard to seem above it all all the time. Maybe having her in the house would be fun, if this was the kind of entertainment she could be expecting. "Need help moving your stuff?" Claudia asked.

Helena, righting herself and making sure she hadn't injured Claudia accidentally or anything ridiculous (it was the Warehouse, after all), raised an eyebrow at Claudia. "No, thank you," was her reply.

Claudia frowned. "Actually, where is all your stuff? You've been here, what, a month? Thought you'd be packed and ready to get out of here already," she said.

Helena pressed out a thin smile. "It's better not to expect too much, isn't it? Wasn't sure I wouldn't outstay my welcome," she muttered as she eased around Claudia toward the stairs.

"Where the hell do you sleep, anyway?!" Claudia was starting to feel nervous about this, and she couldn't pinpoint why. H.G.'s shrugging back didn't answer any questions, and Artie's shouting of her name snapped her back from wherever her mind had started to go. She put on a knowing grin for Myka, and walked into the office.

Myka, with every fiber of her being, wished that Claudia would stop with the innuendo. Because she couldn't say anything about it without drawing attention, and she didn't particularly want to draw attention. She settled for glaring daggers at Claudia when she entered the room with a "Nice jeans, Myka.; H.G. and I were wondering where you got them," and a grin.

"They're old," was Myka's only reply before she turned back to Artie. Though she did smile a little on the inside at the idea of Helena trying on jeans.

Claudia started in on Artie moving her things around, and Myka tuned them out, lost in thought about where, exactly, Helena would be staying. She sincerely hoped she'd be able to talk the other woman into taking the other room on the second floor, the one next to Myka's own. It was smaller than the other three, but the bathroom was the nicest--Myka had actually borrowed the tub a couple of times before--and it would be nice to have everyone on the same floor. And if she was being completely honest with herself, Myka just wanted Helena closer than anywhere else in the house. All she had to do was convince Helena she wanted to be there too. And if she were reading the signs correctly, please god, let her be reading the signs correctly, that shouldn't take too much work.

Helena stood in the doorway, watching the three of them in the office. She could tell something was bothering Myka, and she hoped no one had said anything to upset her. Myka did such a consistent job of hiding things from other people they started to take it for granted; it was one of those things that grated on Helena's nerves about this place. She'd be glad sleep somewhere else. Artie and Claudia were still bickering, so she slipped into the room noticed only by Myka, which was fine with her.

Myka smiled immediately upon seeing Helena, then frowned at her lack of luggage. Helena shook her head with a facial expression that promised more of an explanation later, and slid next to Myka's side like they were spectators at a sporting event.

"Who's winning?" She whispered.

Myka looked over, surprised at how close Helena had gotten without her quite realizing it, and grinned. Helena grinned back. "Claudia," they both said, and turned back to watch their friends. Myka's interest lasted about seven seconds with Helena by her side. "You ready to go?" she asked.

Helena looked up. Since she'd been her, Myka had been one of the last, if not the last, to leave every night, and now she seemed perfectly ready to skip out in the middle of the afternoon. But Myka's facial expression was nothing but actual eagerness to leave the Warehouse and very possibly their co-workers, so Helena nodded.

"Lead on," she replied.

"We'll see you Monday, Artie!," Myka called. "Pete wanted to watch...something with zombies, I think, Claud. He wanted me to tell you," she added.

Claudia's face lit up. "Oh, yeah! Tell him it's _Shaun of the Dead_ or no deal! I'll be home by 6." She looked around. "Eight. Probably." She grinned at Myka, who was smiling back indulgently and nodding.

Walking to the car, Helena looked over at Myka skeptically. "You watch zombie movies?"

Myka laughed. "No. That's their thing. I'm just a messenger. Pete knew he wouldn't be in the office today, but they've been planning this...I don't even know what," she shook her head. "When they get to the classics and the really good action movies, then I'm in there. Otherwise? A good book and a bubble bath." She stopped, realizing she was rambling.

But Helena was taking it all in, sitting sideways in the car so she could get a better look at Myka, even though she'd been told a hundred times it wasn't safe to sit that way. "Define "classics,"" she said, a little skeptically.

Myka hesitated, then laughed. "Ok, maybe not 'classics,' but stuff I always loved. _The Princess Bride_ was always a good one when I was home sick from school and I was too tired to read. Dad and I would watch _Rear Window_ and _The Birds_ sometimes, and Mom would try to balance it out with _From Here to Eternity_ and _West Side Story_." She paused, thinking back. "Pete's better at picking movies, though. I usually just read," she smiled at Helena. "They just know I'll complain less if it's something with decent explosions and gunfire or some classic story I can then tell them how much better the book is." She took her eyes off the road and stared directly into Helena's eyes. "Please, please, never see _War of the Worlds_."

Helena blinked. Then she smiled. "They made my books movies?"

Myka groaned. "Your books are much better. Trust me."

Helena's smile turned a bit mischievous. "Really? I didn't know you'd read them."

Myka laughed. "Oh, that's a lie, and you know it."

Helena's hand flew to her chest. "Me? Lie?!"

Myka just laughed harder. Helena sighed. "Fine, be that way. It still feels nice to know people like your work, you know," she sulked.

Myka was proud she restrained herself from rolling her eyes. She'd never seen Helena sulking. "Yes, Helena. I like you; I like your work. Past and present." She glanced to the side to see a slightly mollified Helena. "We don't just let anyone move in with us, you know," she added. She pulled into the driveway and turned to face the other agent with a warm smile. "Welcome home," she said. "Finally."


End file.
